MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Congrats to the Oles on a big 82-59 home win over the Gusties. Looks like they came out swinging with a 14-2 run to start the game and never took the foot off the gas pedal. Given the margin of their road losses to both UST and STO thus far, it appears Gustavus still needs to show they can compete with quality teams away from St. Peters. Unlike typical balanced scoring Gustie squads from the past, this year's squad needs a strong offensive performance from one player (Seth A) to succeed. I'm sure Coach Hanson would prefer more balance, but the offensive skill level of Anderson's supporting cast is forcing Gustavus to take a different approach this year.
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A little early in the season to call it a major momentum shifter, but the desperate Oles needed a win like this to stay relevant in the conference race after the holidays. In another couple of weeks they have to travel to UW-Stevens Point to take on the Pointers.  I guess Coach Koz is trying to keep his troops humble. 

A bit of a head scratcher up in Mpls where Augsburg lost 58-50 to the IIAC's Central College. Apparently this loss shows the importance of SO PG Parker Hines to the Dawgs' engine.  For whatever reason he did not play in yesterdays' game.

Hamline rolls over CORD in Moorhead 80-66. FY "Christian" Dior Ford led the way with his 1st dub-dub 17 pts & 11 rebs. Mike Campbell with 13 pts.  Interesting stat -former SO starter Tyler Pannell comes off the bench & in 7 minutes of play he knocks down 3-5 3FGA, 1 reb, 3 fouls, 1 TO, & 1 steal.  Kid packs a lot of living & action in his time on the court.  I'd better start calling Pannell World B Free Jr.   

[miacsuperfan]

Congrats to the Oles on a big 82-59 home win over the Gusties. Looks like they came out swinging with a 14-2 run to start the game and never took the foot off the gas pedal. Given the margin of their road losses to both UST and STO thus far, it appears Gustavus still needs to show they can compete with quality teams away from St. Peters. Unlike typical balanced scoring Gustie squads from the past, this year's squad needs a strong offensive performance from one player (Seth A) to succeed. I'm sure Coach Hanson would prefer more balance, but the offensive skill level of Anderson's supporting cast is forcing Gustavus to take a different approach this year.
.

A little early in the season to call it a major momentum shifter, but the desperate Oles needed a win like this to stay relevant in the conference race after the holidays. In another couple of weeks they have to travel to UW-Stevens Point to take on the Pointers.  I guess Coach Koz is trying to keep his troops humble. 

A bit of a head scratcher up in Mpls where Augsburg lost 58-50 to the IIAC's Central College. Apparently this loss shows the importance of SO PG Parker Hines to the Dawgs' engine.  For whatever reason he did not play in yesterdays' game.

Hamline rolls over CORD in Moorhead 80-66. FY "Christian" Dior Ford led the way with his 1st dub-dub 17 pts & 11 rebs. Mike Campbell with 13 pts. Interesting stat -former SO starter Tyler Pannell comes off the bench & in 7 minutes of play he knocks down 3-5 3FGA, 1 reb, 3 fouls, 1 TO, & 1 steal.  Kid packs a lot of living & action in his time on the court.  I'd better start calling Pannell World B Free Jr.   

hey, i noticed that.  is the 7 minutes "dog house" stuff?  this kid was playing some big minutes last year if memory serves. . . particularly the second half of the year!   

as for olaf win, kudos to koz for getting his boys up for the golden gusties.  i've been a bit rough on him at times; i think it would be great to see him do well!    i agree that it really WAS a must win (sorta---if there can be one this early in the year.) 

[WoostAr]

Howdy MIAC board folks!

In your area to watch Caltech play a couple games against Macalaster tonight and Hamline tomorrow.

Watched Caltech's shoot around today at Macalaster...they looked relaxed and at home (hard not to feel inspired in that facility WOW)...excited to see how Caltech (up and coming SCIAC team) stacks up against these two teams.

[WoostAr]

Caltech at Macalaster

The game started with a lot of scoring as you might expect from two teams that didn't really know each other's tendencies.  Caltech got some great early offense from Pan Wang.  Later in the half Todd Cramer and Mike Edwards got a two man game going. The half ended with a buzzer beater from Cramer just inside the arc to give Caltech a 1 point advantage at the half.  Cramer ended the half with 9 assists! and Edwards with 15 points.  Pierce Peters hit for 17 in the first half.  Caltech's offense hummed: the ball zipped, they hit 3 back doors for lay ups which opened up their shooters who hit some threes.

The second half was more physical than the first and the refs did nothing to dissuade this.  Everyone banged this game and, I'm sure, went home with lots of ice on.  Caltech was able to extend their lead to 8 once and again later to 7 but Pierce Peters seemed to have an answer each time and bring the game back to a 2-3 point margin.  Defensively, Macalaster focused more on Cramer in the 2nd half and Caltech focused more on Peters.

Peters hit a three to bring the Scots within two with 1:57 left, but Edwards blocked a Sam Marshall shot on the next trip and then hit two free throws on the other end of the floor to put Caltech up by 4.  From there, Caltech got enough stops and  Wang, Edwards, and Hogue hit enough free throws to seal a 71-65 victory.

Cramer finished the game with 19 pts, 10 assists and 4 rebounds; Edwards finished with 22 pts (and one huge block); Wang finished with 12 points and 3 steals.  Pierce Peters finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds and was certainly the best player on the floor.

Also of note, Mike Paluchniak made his first appearance of the season.  He needs to shake off a bit of rust I'd say, but he hit a three, showed that he still has a strong desire and ability to play defense and was active as a leader.

Big win for Caltech....they continue to learn how to win....Hamline tomorrow...looking forward to it!

[piperinsider]

Caltech at Macalaster

The game started with a lot of scoring as you might expect from two teams that didn't really know each other's tendencies.  Caltech got some great early offense from Pan Wang.  Later in the half Todd Cramer and Mike Edwards got a two man game going. The half ended with a buzzer beater from Cramer just inside the arc to give Caltech a 1 point advantage at the half.  Cramer ended the half with 9 assists! and Edwards with 15 points.  Pierce Peters hit for 17 in the first half.  Caltech's offense hummed: the ball zipped, they hit 3 back doors for lay ups which opened up their shooters who hit some threes.

The second half was more physical than the first and the refs did nothing to dissuade this.  Everyone banged this game and, I'm sure, went home with lots of ice on.  Caltech was able to extend their lead to 8 once and again later to 7 but Pierce Peters seemed to have an answer each time and bring the game back to a 2-3 point margin.  Defensively, Macalaster focused more on Cramer in the 2nd half and Caltech focused more on Peters.

Peters hit a three to bring the Scots within two with 1:57 left, but Edwards blocked a Sam Marshall shot on the next trip and then hit two free throws on the other end of the floor to put Caltech up by 4.  From there, Caltech got enough stops and  Wang, Edwards, and Hogue hit enough free throws to seal a 71-65 victory.

Cramer finished the game with 19 pts, 10 assists and 4 rebounds; Edwards finished with 22 pts (and one huge block); Wang finished with 12 points and 3 steals.  Pierce Peters finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds and was certainly the best player on the floor.

Also of note, Mike Paluchniak made his first appearance of the season.  He needs to shake off a bit of rust I'd say, but he hit a three, showed that he still has a strong desire and ability to play defense and was active as a leader.

Big win for Caltech....they continue to learn how to win....Hamline tomorrow...looking forward to it!

Nice recap WoostAr! +k

[Kilroy]

I love the cross-region posting!

[WoostAr]

Well Kilroy here's one more for you

Caltech went into this game tired -- they traveled, played a banging game against MacalEster (my apologies to any Scots fans for the mis-spelling of your schools name in my last post) and then less than 24 hours later went in to play Hamline and their uptempo style in a HOT gym (80 degrees?? talk about a home court advantage!)

Caltech started out the game sluggish on offense -- shots were in and out and they looked like they were being forced to play a little faster than they might prefer.  Fortunately their defensive scheme worked for the first 10:30 -- they played a zone to start out against Hamline's drivers and then switched to man when the second unit of shooters came in.  In the first 10:30 of the game, Caltech gave up 12 points and we're hanging in there.

Caltech's defense was predicated on keeping Hamline in the half court, but about 10 minutes in, they started having trouble not getting back to set up in their half court d...ten point lead for Hamline at the half.

The second half was ALL Hamline....they poured it on and never relented.  Caltech was clearly exhausted and could not get back on D (or make a shot).  Hamline's first three possessions of the second half went lay up, 3 pointer, DUNK! and the route was on.

Final score 88-48 (Hamline scored 76 points in the final 30 minutes)...credit to Hamline, they put the screws to Caltech and beat them up good.

[piperinsider]

Well Kilroy here's one more for you

Caltech went into this game tired -- they traveled, played a banging game against MacalEster (my apologies to any Scots fans for the mis-spelling of your schools name in my last post) and then less than 24 hours later went in to play Hamline and their uptempo style in a HOT gym (80 degrees?? talk about a home court advantage!)

Caltech started out the game sluggish on offense -- shots were in and out and they looked like they were being forced to play a little faster than they might prefer.  Fortunately their defensive scheme worked for the first 10:30 -- they played a zone to start out against Hamline's drivers and then switched to man when the second unit of shooters came in.  In the first 10:30 of the game, Caltech gave up 12 points and we're hanging in there.

Caltech's defense was predicated on keeping Hamline in the half court, but about 10 minutes in, they started having trouble not getting back to set up in their half court d...ten point lead for Hamline at the half.

The second half was ALL Hamline....they poured it on and never relented.  Caltech was clearly exhausted and could not get back on D (or make a shot).  Hamline's first three possessions of the second half went lay up, 3 pointer, DUNK! and the route was on.

Final score 88-48 (Hamline scored 76 points in the final 30 minutes)...credit to Hamline, they put the screws to Caltech and beat them up good.

I was going to say on Monday ... me thinks CalTech would love to switch dates with Hamline on Monday and Macalester on Tuesday. The Pipers up-tempo style would be pretty tough to deal with less than 24 hours after a competitive game.

[AO]

What is going on at Mac? The Scots were supposed to be better this year but yet they are 0-8 and 4-54 under this regime.  The Scots are on a streak of 15 straight losses. They lose to a team that turns around and loses by 40 to a sub .500 team!!!!

I'd be far more worried about the Crown loss if I'm a Mac supporter.  Hamline looks capable of another playoff berth.  Mac can always look forward to St. Mary's and the possible/likely continuation of their winning streak against Gustavus.

[papahoops]

What is going on at Mac? The Scots were supposed to be better this year but yet they are 0-8 and 4-54 under this regime.  The Scots are on a streak of 15 straight losses. They lose to a team that turns around and loses by 40 to a sub .500 team!!!!

I'd be far more worried about the Crown loss if I'm a Mac supporter.  Hamline looks capable of another playoff berth.  Mac can always look forward to St. Mary's and the possible/likely continuation of their winning streak against Gustavus.

Right on AO. When I saw MAC lost to Crown in the non-conference part of their schedule I knew troubles were ahead in conference play. MAC seems to play reasonably well against better teams (ie. close loss at STO), but has played poorly against weaker teams, losing to teams like Crown and getting smoked at home by Concordia and Bethel. They need to time some of their better efforts for weaker competition to allow them to pick up a few wins.

[Drake Palmer]

What is going on at Mac? The Scots were supposed to be better this year but yet they are 0-8 and 4-54 under this regime.  The Scots are on a streak of 15 straight losses. They lose to a team that turns around and loses by 40 to a sub .500 team!!!!

I'd be far more worried about the Crown loss if I'm a Mac supporter.  Hamline looks capable of another playoff berth.  Mac can always look forward to St. Mary's and the possible/likely continuation of their winning streak against Gustavus.

Right on AO. When I saw MAC lost to Crown in the non-conference part of their schedule I knew troubles were ahead in conference play. MAC seems to play reasonably well against better teams (ie. close loss at STO), but has played poorly against weaker teams, losing to teams like Crown and getting smoked at home by Concordia and Bethel. They need to time some of their better efforts for weaker competition to allow them to pick up a few wins.

I'll chime in a bit about the fortunes of the Scots.  In a word – turnovers. It's killing them.  I watched a good portion of the Caltech–Scot game & just when it appeared they would regain control of the game, they would make an errant pass, dribble the ball off their foot, get their shot blocked, or get called for a charge.  For the game they had 18 TOs while Caltech only had 8 TOs. In a close game between two fairly equal opponents, 71-65, turnovers will make all the difference in the world.  For the season the Scots are bringing up the rear of the league in this category as they average 15.4 TOs/game.

Its' too bad, I like this team.  Pierce Peters is nice, nice player. I read the season preview & discovered that JR forward Sam Marshall who has emerged as a solid 2nd or 3rd scoring option is a western Wisconsin kid & a transfer from Williams College in MA. He's been a real solid addition along with FY guard Hans Erickson.  If Justin Wasik & Chris Quinn reemerge from their soph slump (it appears Wasik has begin to do so) they could be decent. JR post Andy Bowman hasn't developed as much as one would like, but if the Scots could add one more forward & more wing they could be a nice ball club.

Having said this, the coaches' recruiting efforts really didn't seem to generate much in the way of help for the front court & wing spots. I would hate to see how Macalester would look if Sam Marshall wouldn't have decided to transfer closer to home & fell into the Scots' laps.  The Scots might look as bad as WAlum keeps bemoaning.  WA - It seems you primarily follow the Ohio Athletic Conference in Ohio. What's piqued your interest in a relatively anonymous, perennial MIAC cellar dweller in Minnesota?  I didn't notice any Ohio or Michigan players on the MAC roster.

[Drake Palmer]

Drake - I am a d3 fan and primarily follow the teams in the Midwest especially those in the OAC, MIAA, NCAC and HCAC.  However, I have family (brother and other family) now living in the Twin Cities area. My brother is a huge hoops fan - he has watched some MIAC games.   we have talked a great deal about Mac. He raved over the facilities at Macalester so I looked at them online and it is impressive.  After our conversations  I started looking at the program history, team, and other things. As someone who has seen lots of D3 schools, I dont understand how good players would not want to play at a place like Macalester.  Good location and a great arena. Is it difficult to get in academically or too expensive for kids?  There has to be something negative there.

Hmm, ok. I still think it's a curious choice of schools to lend your support to. Its' been what, 4-5 years since the last time the Scots were really competitive, & 6-7 years when they last made the league playoffs. Sniff.

On another sad note...

Bethany Lutheran 79-77 over Augsburg

If we don't get more posters on the board I think we'll have to insist that all schools release game day injury & absence update reports. The Dawgs drop another game at home to the lowly Bethany Lutheran Crusaders 79-77. BLC is 2-6 or 3-6 on the year. You've gotta be kidding me!?!    Parker Hines is another no-show in the boxscore.

It's a good thing AO has matured on us & is not on the board to gloat about the upset win by the upstart team from the UMAC.  Good man AO. 

Tyler Schmidt goes off for 27 pts as he shot 6-10 from downtown, 9-9 from the charity stripe,  6 rebs & 3 assists.  AGG was a scintillating 9-10 from the floor for 20 pts, 9 rebs & 5 asssits, but his partner,  big man Baby Bull – Cory Polta was a frigid 0-6 from the floor, & the Crusaders employed the "Hack-a-Shaq" tactic on Polta as he was an awful 3-12 from the FT line.  Ouch!
Thud.

I guess we can really start talking about how down the MIAC is this year. Yowz!

[WAlum]

I removed all my posts and will go back to talking about the Midwest regions.  I apologize for my brother living near Mac and talking bball.

[Drake Palmer]

I removed all my posts and will go back to talking about the Midwest regions.  I apologize for my brother living near Mac and talking bball.

Dude – not the point at all.  You're more than welcome to post here, but...

1) I was curious regarding your MAC connection.

2) It's great that your brother lives in St. Paul, but when there are other schools in St. Paul who have enjoyed more success than Macalester – St. Thomas & Hamline, it's interesting that you & your brother would choose to follow the Scots. I live in St. Paul, less than 5-6 minutes from all 3 St. Paul schools, & follow the fortunes & misfortunes of all 3 schools.

3)  In your few & only posts on the MIAC board, you've been less than complimentary about the Scots, so I & others have wondered, what's your point? It would be the equivalent of me joining the SCIAC board to complain about the ineptitude of Caltech a few years ago, or hopping on the NCAC board & complain about Allegheny or Kenyon being crummy in basketball. Why?

[AO]

Is Augsburg thought of that highly?  I guess I didn't really consider it much of an upset, other than the fact that the UMAC has won very few games this year.

MAC has been good in the past with a smaller gym and their probably isn't an easy reason to point out why they've been in the cellar the last few years.  Ben Van Thore 2.0 might be out there somewhere.